From the Collection: Children's Hats from SW China - The Best is Last?

I mentioned that the Roommate & I often try to buy things in sets of three. Not sure why we do that, but it's a habit we've tried to keep up. Of course sometimes we cannot resist & we buy some other odd number of items (7 Ethiopian pillows, for example). Anyway, the best of these three amazing items, another child's cap from SW China, which we bought in Dali in 1994.

The front of this has an overlapping leaf design, and YES, that is real hair, braided & woven with some wire to make super-scary horns.  Wouldn't any child feel protected wearing this cap?  

I'm guessing it's also from the Bai people, but I need to do some more research.  We got them all in Dali at the same time.  

BTW, they were made for wearing--all three have chin-straps.  

Enjoy the details below...

Note: Clicking on the photo will bring up a much larger version for your perusal.